The White House has warned that the US only has enough money left for a single aid package for Ukraine this year before Congress must give the green light to new contributions to Kyiv. More than 40 former senior US and NATO diplomats and defense officials urged Congress to approve new aid to Ukraine, warning that losing the war with Russia would be catastrophic for Ukraine and threaten the security of the US and its allies. The chief of the army of Ukraine criticized Volodymyr Zelenskyi after the Kyiv leader dismissed all regional military commissars. At the front, Ukrainian troops are experiencing a shortage of artillery shells and were forced to reduce combat operations in certain areas of the front, said Ukrainian Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi.

Basic information about the war in Ukraine, day 664, LIVETEXT:

08:05The newest ship of the Romanian Navy, the M270 minesweeper Sub-Lieutenant Ion Ghiculescu – the first of two Sandown-class ships bought from the UK – arrived at the port of Constanta on Tuesday. Despite the fact that it is a used ship, it is equipped with the most modern technologies and will be one of the most modern, but at the same time the newest in the arsenal of the Romanian Navy.

A brief summary of recent events:

• The EU adopted the 12th package of sanctions against Russia, the European Commission reported. According to her, this package is aimed at banning the import of diamonds and combating sanctions evasion.
• Russia’s diplomatic mission to the European Union said on Monday that the new sanctions imposed by the EU showed that punitive measures against Moscow had not produced results.
• Russia destroyed nearly every building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiyivka in a major attack in which civilian infrastructure was deliberately destroyed.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin has submitted the necessary documents to the Central Election Commission of Russia for official registration in the 2024 presidential election.
• President Vladimir Putin, whose country, which invaded Ukraine, is facing a critical labor shortage exacerbated by mobilization at the front, said on Monday that women are the “great life blood” of Russia.
• The United States is planning a new aid package for Ukraine this month, after which Congress will have to act to provide more aid, the White House said on Monday, Reuters reported.
• Two court hearings regarding the opponent Oleksiy Navalny, which were supposed to take place on Monday, were postponed to January, according to court documents. A UN human rights expert sounded the alarm on Monday about the “forced disappearance” of the Russian opposition.
• On Monday, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valery Zaluzhnyi, expressed the sharpest criticism of President Volodymyr Zelenskyi’s decision to dismiss the heads of regional military committees.
• The European Union will organize an extraordinary summit to agree on the revision of its multi-year budget, including funds for Ukraine, only from February 1, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, said on Monday.
• Defense Minister Rustem Umerov presented the state enterprise “State Logistics Operator” (DOT) – a new procurement department for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which will be responsible for all non-military procurement.
• Despite the fact that Ukrainians’ trust in President Volodymyr Zelensky remains high, it has fallen by more than 20 percent compared to the same period last year.
• Ukraine announced on Monday that it had discovered microphones in the office of the assistants to the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny, a day after a wiretapping device was discovered in the office of the chief of staff.
• Ukrainian front-line forces are experiencing a shortage of artillery shells and have been forced to scale back their combat operations in some areas of the front and face a “very big” problem in this regard, said Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, the Ukrainian brigadier general who commanded the offensive operation. which led to the retreat of the Russians from Kherson.
• The European Union could face a military threat from Russia by the end of this decade, the German government says.

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• Monday’s events related to Russian aggression were broadcast LIVE on HotNews.ro